Thunder God Sword in Hand

"Secret technique?"

The Third Hokage's heart stirred, and he thought of the Eight Gates that Kyoichi had used during the exam.

Moreover,

he remembered Kyoichi mentioning that this was Might Duy's technique?

Who was Might Duy...

The Third Hokage fell into deep thought.

After thinking for several seconds, he finally reacted and looked up. "Did you create the Eight Gates together with Might Duy?"

"No. Senior Duy spent twenty years cultivating it painstakingly and created it himself. It has nothing to do with me. My technique is called the Seven Heavenly Breathing Methods. I came up with it while teaching myself Medical Knowledge."

As he spoke, Kyoichi explained the principles of the Seven Heavenly Breathing Methods and the First Activation.

"Activating the body? You actually developed a Taijutsu technique of this level!"

The Third Hokage was greatly shocked after hearing it.

Using oxygen intake to activate the body was indeed a good angle, but the Third Hokage quickly understood that this technique also placed extremely high demands on the body.

If one's constitution was insufficient, inhaling too much oxygen could instead lead to poisoning.

After thinking it over, he took a deep breath and said, "Your technique qualifies as an S-rank forbidden technique. Unless absolutely necessary, you must never use it!"

"I understand. Senior Duy and I have recently been studying how to modify it, lowering its requirements and adjusting its functions to see whether it can be somewhat popularized as an A-rank forbidden technique."

Kyoichi took the opportunity to explain his and Might Duy's ideas.

S-rank forbidden techniques were techniques whose circulation was prohibited, while A-rank forbidden techniques could be learned by Chunin elites and above.

If they could develop a modified version, it would be a great achievement!

Good deeds definitely needed to bear one's name.

Besides,

who knew? He might even be able to apply for research funding.

"The idea is good, but putting it into practice will cause no small amount of trouble."

The Third Hokage rubbed his aching head.

"Lord Hokage, rest assured. I will alter the breathing method. Even if outsiders obtain the ordinary activation Taijutsu, they will have no way to comprehend the Seven Heavenly Breathing Methods."

After saying that, Kyoichi thought for a moment before adding, "If we can develop it, at the very least, our shinobi will suffer fewer casualties in the next war."

"You make a good point. We can't refuse to eat for fear of choking... How about this? I won't record the First Activation for now. Submit it after you and Duy develop the A-rank version."

The Third Hokage took a scroll from below the desk.

After forming hand seals to release the seal,

a sword appeared on the tabletop.

The Thunder God Sword!

"Actually, this sword was a weapon my teacher had someone forge in his early years. Although it is powerful, its material is very fragile, so you must use it carefully. There's no need to return it. I only hope that you will treat it well."

The Third Hokage handed the sword over.

Kyoichi had not expected the Third Hokage to give it to him directly instead of merely lending it.

Not only that, but after thinking for a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi added, "You can visit the book collection room in the Hokage Building more often. Although it contains no jutsu, the knowledge inside is certainly more complete than what you have gathered piecemeal."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage!"

Kyoichi was filled with surprise and delight.

He had originally planned to snatch one or two weapons from the Seven Swordsmen later, but the Third Hokage had directly given him the Thunder God Sword. This was a completely unexpected bonus.

Of course,

he still had to rob the Seven Swordsmen.

Who would complain about having too many swords?

And it was not only the Seven Swordsmen's weapons. He was also very interested in the Kusanagi Sword. He simply did not know where the Kusanagi Clan was; otherwise, he would have already found a way to get the Kusanagi Sword. Why would he have come to seek out the Third Hokage?

"Your exam is tomorrow, and the class assignments are the day after tomorrow. Remember to attend."

Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled.

After Kyoichi left, he pondered for a long while. Finally, he began searching through the files, but even after searching for quite some time, he found nothing.

With no other choice,

he called for an Anbu shinobi.

"Help me find Might Duy's records."

"Lord Hokage, Might Duy is a Genin. You won't find him in the Chunin files."

"Huh?"

Might Duy was a Genin?

Hiruzen Sarutobi was momentarily lost.

He did not doubt the truth of Kyoichi's words. The Eight Inner Gates were incomparably dangerous. Researching this technique required not only a theoretical foundation but also persistent training.

The process was extremely long. It could not be accomplished in less than a decade or two.

How old was Kyoichi?

Therefore, the Eight Gates absolutely could not have been his original creation. It should indeed have been created by this Might Duy.

However,

a shinobi who could create an S-rank forbidden technique was actually just an ordinary Genin?

At that moment, the Third Hokage felt that he had done a terrible job.

There was such a talent in the village, yet he had failed to discover him. He had needed repeated reminders from someone else before finally realizing it—yes, he had figured it out. Kyoichi had been deliberately recommending Might Duy, which was why he had mentioned him repeatedly.

He had the Anbu shinobi find Might Duy's information. After reading it carefully several times, he immediately understood why he did not remember this person.

Unlike Kosuke,

Duy truly regarded himself as a Genin. He had always been taking D-rank missions and had never even taken a C-rank mission apart from participating in wars.

This...

Could he really have created the Eight Gates?

"I've failed in my duty. I've failed in my duty!"

The Third Hokage sighed.

Konoha had been at war year after year and had always been desperately short of Chunin and Jonin. Yet such an outstanding talent had been buried among the Genin by him.

Kyoichi left the Hokage Building with the Thunder God Sword in hand.

Twice now.

If the Third Hokage still had not caught on, then he truly was too old and muddle-headed. He might as well step down early.

The current Might Duy was slightly different from the original.

Although he still specialized only in the Eight Gates, he had also learned one or two of the supporting Taijutsu techniques created by Might Guy, and had completely mastered the Konoha Whirlwind series of Taijutsu.

The current Might Duy would have no problem becoming a Jonin.

And that was without having mastered super-standard Taijutsu such as Morning Peacock and Daytime Tiger, which came after the Six Gates. If he mastered them, he could rank among the very best of the elite Jonin.

So,

was a shinobi this powerful really being left to gather dust?

The Third Hokage was simply too foolish.

Of course,

this was not the first foolish thing he had done. When Hatake Sakumo committed suicide earlier, he had not stepped out to stop the public opinion from spreading, allowing matters to develop to that point.

If it had been intentional, then he was sinister.

If it had been unintentional, then he was incompetent.

Either way, it proved that the Third Hokage was no good person.

And even for himself,

becoming a Jonin was easy enough.

But if he wanted to contend for the position of Hokage, there would probably be all kinds of twists, turns, and disputes along the way.

Kyoichi sneered inwardly.

"Forget it. I'll leave these things alone for now."

Becoming Hokage was still a long way off. For now, the key was to survive the next war and Nine-Tails' Night.

The next day,

after finishing his training, Kyoichi headed toward the Ninja Academy.

Today was the exam.

Those taking the early graduation exam generally had no problems; it was merely a formality. But Kyoichi had no choice but to come—apparently, the Third Hokage had directly appointed him as the chief examiner for the jutsu exam.

Besides him, however, the lineup of assistant examiners was also impressive.

Tekuno and Kurenai's Father.

It was clear that the Third Hokage had high expectations for this class.

Before long, the examinees entered.

The first one...

Obito?

Surely he had not been late again this time.

Sure enough,

a full two minutes after the exam began, the door was finally knocked on.

"Teacher? I..."

When Obito entered and saw him, his entire body immediately trembled.

He had never expected

the chief examiner to be his teacher!

The crucial thing was,

he had actually been late again, damn it!

"Same rules as usual. This is a combined Transformation Jutsu and Clone Technique exam. We'll test the Substitution Technique later."

"Yes!"

Obito took a deep breath.

He could not embarrass his teacher!

He quickly formed hand seals. After a surge of chakra, two clones appeared beside him. At the same time, the clones and his original body respectively transformed into Kyoichi and the appearances of the two other assistant examiners.

"The other two have different heights and widths, but you didn't notice that I have an extra ninja tool today?"